July 2021 Hatch-A-Long

[Coffee N Chickens]

Infertile or quitters get eaten or pushed out of the nest. It’s nature. Is there a reason you are forcing your chicken to eat and drink on your schedule? It’s not unheard of for a bird to never be seen out, but that’s because we aren’t watching 24/7, and as predators, even a trusting hen might want to wait until we’re away.

My girl went broody and I put some fertile eggs under her, but they ended up being pushed out of the nest and eaten. Nobody hatched, and they were due July 1st or 2nd. Maybe it was because she is young and this is her first try.

There's another set of eggs in the incubator set to hatch this Thursday or Friday. I put them into the incubator late in the evening.

 

[Erba]

Day 7 for the eggs in incubator 1. Candled and just one was not fertilized. Down to 9 in there now. I am also thinking about swapping the eggs around, so the 18 are in the bigger incubator.

 

[svh]

Infertile or quitters get eaten or pushed out of the nest. It’s nature. Is there a reason you are forcing your chicken to eat and drink on your schedule? It’s not unheard of for a bird to never be seen out, but that’s because we aren’t watching 24/7, and as predators, even a trusting hen might want to wait until we’re away.

Thank you for the reply. This is a good question I hadn't really thought about. This is my first attempted hatch, and I was going on advice taken from an experienced chicken tender.

 

[Sydney65]

I think it hatched yesterday, but only heard it today. It’s a Silver Pencil Rock/Welsummer. I’m really hoping the rest of the eggs, pure Rock, hatch. I’ve had poor fertility.
View attachment 2743600

So cute!!

 

[Sydney65]

Infertile or quitters get eaten or pushed out of the nest. It’s nature. Is there a reason you are forcing your chicken to eat and drink on your schedule? It’s not unheard of for a bird to never be seen out, but that’s because we aren’t watching 24/7, and as predators, even a trusting hen might want to wait until we’re away.

Are you saying they eat the eggs to stay nourished or just to get rid of bad egg? - bc I do see a lot of ppl fretting abt their hen never leaving the nest and losing weight. So if they recognize & utilize the egg to stay nourished - that's awesome! First time I've heard of it.

 

[BullChick]

They eat the egg to get rid of it.

 

[Sydney65]

They eat the egg to get rid of it.

Ah. Had never heard that. Thanks!

 

[BullChick]

When I joined BYC, there were people that I thought were so smart. After about two years, I realized… maybe they weren’t. We do what works for us, but sometimes we are just making things hard on ourselves, and occasionally messing up nature. Since I have not seen anyone mention it, I am not likely to make anyone think I’m talking about them.
If you add heat during the winter, and the power goes out, the chickens will die because they have not acclimated to the cold. Chickens can actually handle, and often prefer, cold weather. Ducks love it even more. As long as we give them an area that is draft free, the windchill doesn’t affect them, and they are fine. Of course, they need a lot of ventilation because they give off a lot of heat.
So, if a chicken seems happy, I recommend not over helping.

 

[Tonyroo]

View attachment 2750116
Day 12. What am I looking at?

Looks like twin embryo.

 

[5 Points Wingfeather]

Looks like twin embryo.

That would be bad news, right? Like non viable ?